Hand-held power tools transmit vibrations to a side handle. Damping elements in the side handle serve to reduce the amplitude of the vibrations on a gripping surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,807 A describes such a handle.
The vibration-damping side handle is a compromise between the ability to transmit forces from the user to the hand-held power tool and the ability to reduce vibrations caused by the hand-held power tool on the gripping surface. The transmission of forces calls for stiff, unyielding elements. Damping, especially of low-frequency vibrations, requires soft, yielding elements.
As an alternative, the inertia of the side handle can be increased by raising its mass in order to improve the damping. This, however, increases the weight of the hand-held power tool.